AMP wants to give insurance customers the gift of work this new year and will use horses, robots and feather dusters to make it happen.

Medical evidence shows work is important to recovery from illness or injury. According to the Federal Government’s Comcare (2015), if a person is off work for 20 days the chance of them getting back to work is 70 per cent, but if time off work extends to 70 days, the chance of going back to work decreases to only 35 per cent.

“Helping customers back to good work has long-lasting, positive impacts"

AMP Director Claims Jen Mitchell said medical research clearly shows if people can get back into their routine, including work if appropriate, they recover faster.

“We’ve given our case managers the freedom to get creative with solutions to help customers with their recovery,” Ms Mitchell said.

How AMP has helped customers back to work:

Connected a customer recovering from a psychological injury with a rehabilitation program that uses equine therapy to build confidence.

Provided an “iPad robot” to a customer who was not yet capable of being physically present in the workplace, enabling work from home.

Organised for a customer who was receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy to take part in an exercise program which played an important role in recovery.

Supported a customer to retrain in a new field who had years prior been told they would never be able to work again in their chosen career.

Organised home cleaning for a customer being treated for significant burns so they could focus their time and energy on recovery and return to work.

Ms Mitchell added: “Helping customers back to good work has long-lasting, positive impacts.

“Good work is work that is stable, safe, empowering and flexible and apart from the usual benefit of work in being able to draw a salary, one of the most important aspects of good work is the opportunity to maintain social connection and support.

“These networks play a big part in maintaining our social and physical health and routine gives people a real sense of purpose.”